In December 2023, sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin (BTC) network surpassed a significant milestone, exceeding $881 million for the first time ever. This data was reported by CryptoSlam, showing that NFT sales on the Bitcoin chain reached an impressive $881,223,753.92 in the last month. This sets a new record for the highest single-month sales to date.
Bitcoin NFTs: Unique and Innovative
Bitcoin NFTs, also known as Ordinals, are a new type of NFT that exist on the Bitcoin blockchain. Unlike traditional NFTs, which are mainly associated with the Ethereum blockchain, Bitcoin NFTs have a distinct feature – they are directly inscribed onto individual satoshis, the smallest unit of a bitcoin.
More specifically, each Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million satoshis, and Bitcoin NFTs are created by inscribing data onto these satoshis. This unique process is similar to engraving a tiny piece of data onto a small fraction of a Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Leads the Way in NFT Sales
In terms of NFT sales, Bitcoin outperformed Ethereum and other blockchains. In December, BTC-focused NFT sales were 2.34 times higher than ETH’s sales, with a total of $881 million compared to Ethereum’s $364.79 million.
Following Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana secured the third spot with approximately $325.14 million in NFT sales, experiencing a remarkable 312% increase from the previous month. Polygon and Arbitrum also emerged as leading blockchains in terms of NFT sales.
“BTC-focused NFT sales outperformed ETH’s by a significant margin, being 2.34 times greater in December.” – CryptoSlam
December’s NFT transactions included some notable sales. One of them was the digital copy of Vincent Van Gogh’s renowned Self-portrait, 1888 (Van Gogh’s painting #216), which sold for an impressive price of $1.19 million. Another notable sale took place on Ethereum, with the Frxethredemption Ticket #33 fetching $638,433.
Overall, December witnessed a record-breaking $1.7 billion in NFT transactions, representing a significant increase of over 69% compared to November’s figures. It is clear that Bitcoin continues to dominate NFT sales across various blockchains.
“BTC-based NFT sales soared 127.63% above the chain’s November totals.” – cryptoslam.io statistics
Out of the top ten NFT collections in terms of sales, seven were derived from the Bitcoin blockchain. The Solana blockchain’s Tensorians and the Mad Lads collection also made it to the list. Arbitrum’s Sentry Node collection claimed the ninth position in December.
Throughout the month, a total of 11,290,812 NFT transactions took place, involving 469,389 sellers and 600,744 NFT buyers. It is worth noting that prior to December, NFT trading volume had already surged, reaching $405 million in October.
“NFT trading volume surged by $99 million, reaching $405 million in October.” – Reported data
